


Daddy's love is reason to war

by NobodyGivesAShit1969



Series: A new baby in the Alexandria Safe-Zone [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Age Play Little Daryl Dixon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Competition, Crying Daryl Dixon, Diapers, Fights, Friends to Enemies, M/M, Milk And Cookies, Sad Daryl Dixon, Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-09 00:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16439615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobodyGivesAShit1969/pseuds/NobodyGivesAShit1969
Summary: Aaron and Rick set up a play date for Eric and Daryl to become friends, but it ends up being a disaster. Maybe Daryl's gonna have to learn to share.





	Daddy's love is reason to war

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey! I hope you liked this story, sweeties!

  "Daryl, pick up your toys, please" Rick said, walking around the house to check if everything was in order. 

  Daryl was playing downstairs with his new fire truck and his little Lego men. 

  "'N why'd you burn'a house, you---" Daryl was speaking, kneeling on the floor and dragging the red vehicle around, until he heard and saw Daddy's boots stopping right in front of him. He looked up and said, blushing: "Hi, Daddy" 

  Rick smiled and gestured to the toys. "Pick them up, please. It's late and they'll be here soon" 

  Daryl buffed and stood up, bringing his yellow men and his truck with him to go upstairs and put them in his box. Once he finished, he went downstairs and sat on the couch. Rick sat down next to him and hugged his narrow waist. 

  "Are you okay?" Rick asked the baby, who just shrugged and sighed. "Oh... Are you nervous?" 

  "Uh-huh" Daryl answered, hugging Rick and burying his face into the man's chest. "Never had little friends a'fore" 

  Rick's heart dropped, but he didn't let that ruin the moment. Instead, he started petting Daryl's hair while he hugged him. The little boy relaxed, until they both heard the knock on the door and Rick had to stand up to get it. 

  "It's okay, honey. I'll be back soon" Rick stood up and went to open the door, quickly letting Aaron and Eric in.

  The older man was holding the boy's hand, and that made Daryl relax a little bit. Maybe it would be okay if he felt cuddly later, and Eric wouldn't laugh at him because of it. 

  "Hi, Daryl" Aaron said, and tugged gently on Eric's hand for him to say 'hello' as well. Eric waved and stared down, causing Rick to smile. It was so cute! 

  "Hi" Daryl said, blushing. He stood up and his behind Rick, who smiled and apologized to their guests. 

  "Daryl, don't hide. That's not polite" He said, but Daryl didn't move. "Honey, Eric came here only to see you and to play with you" 

  Eric nodded. "I brought my toys" That caused Daryl to come out and stare wide-eyed at the other boy, who he now realized was holding a colorful bag. Eric turned his head to look at his Daddy, who was now talking to Rick, and said: "Can we go play now?" 

  Aaron nodded and patted Eric's butt before the boys could run upstairs to play. 

  Once they got to Daryl's room, Eric opened the bag and started taking everything out. There were Lego men, a few super hero action figures, plastic animals and a lot of tiny cars. 

  "What should we play?" Eric said, watching Daryl state at the small pile of colorful toys. 

  Daryl shrugged. "We could play super heroes an' save the yellow guys an' the an'mals, a'cause they're attacked by the cars" He said, grabbing his pacifier, which was hanging from a pin on his yellow onesie. 

  Eric smiled and nodded. They started playing, and everything was going fine until they had to decide who played each of the super heroes. 

  Daryl pouted. "But... I wanna p'ay Batman" He spoke around his pacifier, causing Eric to start laughing. 

  "These are my toys, so you'll just play Spider-man and the Lego guys, okay?" He said, grabbing his favorite toy, the Batman action figure. "And take that thing out of your mouth, 'cause it sounds like you speak Martian" 

  Daryl's eyes opened really wide and his heart started beating really fast. Was Eric actually making fun of him? Was he making fun of him at his house? Well, that was bad. He wished he could do something, but he knew his Daddy would get mad if he fought with Eric.

  Taking his pacifier out of his mouth, he nodded and started playing, barely saying anything. It was boring to just play one super hero when Eric had two, Batman and Superman, but those weren't his toys and it wasn't his choice to make. Soon, he got really bored and stopped playing. 

 "Why aren't you playing? We still have to save the guys!" Eric said, staring at Daryl. The blue-eyed boy shrugged. 

  "It's the fifth time we save 'em. It's boring" He said. 

  Eric sounded mad as he spoke. "But you chose to play this game! You can't get bored if you made it up!" He complained, but then he stopped, apparently having an idea. "But what could you know, if you're just a silly baby" 

  Well, Daryl thought, that was enough.

  "'M not a baby!" He spoke angrily. 

  "Yes, you are!" Eric smiled. 

  Daryl was going to say something, when Rick entered the room. 

  "Hey, little guys!" Rick smiled, walking towards the boys and laid a hand out for Daryl to take it and stand up. The baby looked at him, eyes full of confusion, and shook his head. "Stand up, buddy" Rick insisted. The boy pouted as he complied. Once he was on his feet, he felt Rick's hands on his shorts and he turned his head to look at him. "I'm gonna check your diaper, that's all. It's been a while since your last change, so..." He said, pulling Daryl's light blue shorts down and unsnapping his yellow onesie to touch the diaper with his hand and see if it was wet or not. Daryl started squirming as soon as he felt his Daddy's hand on him, fearing that Eric could say something about that. 

  "Daddy, stooop!" Daryl batted the man's hand away, wanting him to back off.

   "Let's change that wet diaper, honey" Rick scooped the baby up and carried him to the changing table, where he made him lay down.  "You're soaked, buddy. Why didn't you tell me, huh?" He started changing Daryl's diaper without even thinking that Eric was right behind him, watching. Daryl was so embarrassed he started crying. "Oh, sweetie... Do you need some cream? Does your bum hurt from being in that wet diaper for so long? It's a little bit red"

  Even though he knew that Rick was doing it to take care of him, Daryl couldn't help feeling embarrassed. It was as if Rick was doing it on purpose, changing him in front of his new "friend", just to embarrass him and to make him feel bad. But he knew that his Daddy would never do that, because he was a good man. 

  "Alright, all done" Rick said, dressing Daryl back up. He was about to scoop him up and carry him back to where he had been playing, but Daryl quickly shrugged him off and hopped off the changing table. "Hey", Rick admonished, "little boys are not allowed to jump off high places".

  Eric let out a giggle while he watched the scene and played with one of his little cars. Daryl remained silent, still embarrassed and with the funny feeling of that cold cream on his bottom. He was trying to be patient with the stupid guest, as he called him inside his mind, so that Rick didn't get me at him. But when he heard Rick laugh along with Eric, he rolled his eyes and stopped paying attention to his attitude. 

  "'N old an' dumb daddies like you are not 'llowed to be here" He said, not even considering that he could get in trouble. But Eric did consider it, because he felt the need to see if Rick got angry and did something about the boy's behavior. 

  Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath to stop himself from landing a few smacks on Daryl's backside. Once he was sure he wouldn't change his mind, he started walking towards the door to leave. Before he even stepped out of the room, he turned his head to look at his baby and said: 

  "Behave, please. Don't wanna hear any more back talk, okay? You know how I handle sassy boys" Rick warned, not wanting to have to tell his boy off anymore, least of all spank him. 

  As Rick walked out of the room, Daryl mimicked him, causing Eric to laugh. He was going to get in trouble, it was just a matter of time, Eric thought. And if the baby didn't follow his orders, then he would tell Rick about the mocking. Then they would see who laughed. 

  Eric continued playing with his cars, almost ignoring Daryl, until the baby grabbed his Batman action figure and started playing with it, pretending the man in the black suit was flying around the "dead" Lego men. Daryl was about to make Batman save one yellow, little man, when Eric's hand stopped him and snatched it from his hands. 

  "Hey!" Daryl complained. 

  Eric shrugged and said: "What? It's mine" 

  "Okay" The baby said, going to get his fire truck so that Eric felt bad for not lending him his Batman action figure. When the other boy saw the red toy, he left Batman on the floor and tried to grab the small vehicle. Daryl, smiling because of his victory, moved the toy so that the other boy couldn't touch it and said: "Ya can't have this one, 's mine" 

  Eric tried to get it again, but Daryl moved it again as well. "Martian, I'm gonna tell your Daddy that you're not sharing" 

  Daryl's eyes filled with tears. He was being humiliated at his own house and by a boy he barely knew! 

  "An' I'm gonna say him that you' not sharin', too" Daryl talked back, anger and angst tied around his throat as he spoke. 

  "He's not gonna believe you, I'm the guest" Eric shrugged. "And I'm cute, a lot cuter than you, so he's gonna believe me" The "older" boy smiled and tried to grab the toy once again.

  "'S mine!" Daryl yelled, hugging his toy to his chest. Eric nodded, understanding, and shrieked at the top of his lungs. 

  Two seconds later, Rick entered the room, worry on his face. He quickly looked around to see if they were in any kind of danger, and then he sighed with relief as soon as he realized that they weren't injured. 

  "Hey, what's going on in here?" The sheriff asked. Eric turned to hug Rick as soon as the man finished speaking. Rick ran a hand through the boy's hair. "Are you okay, buddy?" 

  Eric put on his saddest face before he shook his head and pointed to Daryl, who was staring at them in awe. 

  "He doesn't want to share his toys, and he says that everything here is his!" The "older" boy said, pouting. Rick gave Daryl a disappointed look and shook his head, pulling away from Eric and walking towards his baby. 

  "Daryl, is that true?" The man asked, knowing that what their guest was saying might be true, but still not wanting to blame his baby without hearing his version first. 

  The baby shook his head. "I was sharin', Daddy" He pouted. If Eric could pretend to be a good boy, then he could show he actually was one. 

  "No, he said that the truck was his an' that he was gonna play with all my toys!" Eric said angrily and then looked Rick in the eye, making a puppy face. "He wasn't sharing, I'm saying the truth, Rick" 

  Rick sighed deeply and took the red fire truck from Daryl's hands, making Daryl pout harder. Eric smiled, thinking that Rick was going to give it to him, but he pouted with disappointment as he saw Rick leaving the toy on the highest shelf of the room. 

  "Let's forget about these toys and let's go draw something, okay? We have a lot of crayons, markers and pencils for both of you to draw" Rick picked Daryl up and took Eric's hand to lead them both downstairs. Then, he sat them at the table and put the big box with art supplies there. He also got them sheets of paper and a rag. "Alright, if you guys accidentally draw on the table, you call me and I'll clean it up, okay? But don't do it on purpose" He said, and after the kids nodded, he went to the living room to continue reading his new book. 

  Once the boys are alone, they start drawing in silence, focusing on making something nice. Daryl was drawing a pretty scene where he was camping with the whole group and everyone was very happy. He was sure Rick would love it, just like he loved everything he made. On the other hand, Eric was drawing something he knew his new friend wasn't going to like, but he didn't care, not at all. In fact, when Rick went to the dining room to check on them, Eric showed him the picture. Then, Daryl saw it too. It broke his heart to know that Eric had been drawing a scene in which Rick and him were together, like a family, and he wasn't even there. 

  In a little bit of a shock, Rick asked Eric to follow him into the living room for a moment so that they could talk. Once they were there, both sat down on the couch and the older man started talking. 

  "What were you trying to tell me with your picture?" He asked, really confused. 

  Eric looked down at his hands. "My daddy doesn't take care of me, he's never at home. I'm always alone, and..." 

  Rick bit his bottom lip before he said: "...And you want me to take care of you, right?" 

  Eric nodded, his heart beating really fast. He was sure Rick would say yes and by the next day he would be living there, with him, and Daryl would have to go somewhere else. 

  "Honey, you know how much Aaron loves you, right?" Rick said, looking into Eric's eyes. 

  Eric nodded, staring down at his hands to avoid eye contact with the other man. He didn't actually feel embarrassed, but since he had been observing Daryl's behavior he knew that the boy's shyness was one of the things Rick loved about him, so he tried to pretend to be shy so that Rick thought he was cute as well. 

  "I know, but he doesn't have time f' me an' I'm a'ways alone" He answered, still looking down. 

  Rick felt bad for the boy, and for a moment he thought about asking Aaron to take care of him while he was gone scavenging, but then he thought of how Daryl might feel. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea. So he just hugged the boy and held him as close as possible for a few seconds. Eric was so happy he couldn't help smiling widely, but Rick couldn't see it. 

  "It's okay, you're not alone anymore" The sheriff said, rubbing invisible circles on the boy's back. He kissed Eric's forehead and then was going to pull away when he heard the almost silent footseps he knew so well, and then the tiny voice. 

  "Daddy, I'm hun---" Daryl entered the room, quickly seeing what was going on. His eyes filled with tears, an accusation of betrayal clearly there, and his mouth formed a perfectly sad pout before he stormed out of the living room and ran to his bedroom. 

  Rick quickly stood up and, after leaving Eric sat on the couch, he ran after his baby. He went upstairs and entered the boy's room without any trouble. 

  "Daryl?" He walked around the bedroom to try and see where his boy was, but he wasn't able to find him. Rick knew that whenever Daryl got upset, he would hide because he didn't want to talk and that's why the older man thought that maybe it'd be a good idea to just leave him alone until he felt ready to hear what he had to say. But he hated it when Daryl was su upset he didn't want to see him, and he knew that when the baby got too sad he always tried to escape, so maybe it would be better if he just stayed in the room with him and talked to him to try and make things better. "Daryl, honey, please come out" 

  Rick could hear where the boy's tiny sobs came from, but he knew that, if he wanted to see Daryl, then he would have to let Daryl take his time to go find him. Finding Daryl wasn't a good idea. 

  "Daryl, I'm really sorry" he was, he actually was very sorry. Rick knew how easy it was for Daryl to get upset, mostly because he had problems with whatever that had to do with sharing. He understood why: the baby had never had anything good in his life, least of all people, so he really clung to the ones he loved and feared that they would someday choose to just walk away from him. "Baby, I didn't mean to make you feel bad." 

  "Not your baby" Daryl replied, apparently ready to talk from under his bed. 

  Rick was surprised at how fast Daryl had answered him, and also at what the baby had said. 

   "Why not? Don't you want to be my baby anymore?" He asked, somehow hurt. He knew how mean Daryl could be when he was upset, but that had caught him off guard. 

   "Not your baby, jus' a baby" Daryl said, letting out another tiny sob. 

  Rick wanted so bad to just lay down on the floor to be able to see his boy, but he knew that it would be better to just wait until Daryl came out. It broke his heart to know that Daryl was down there, crying alone, probably needing some cuddles but being too upset to admit it. 

    "You just don't want to be mine, huh?" Rick insisted. He knew that Daryl had gotten upset because he had seen him hugging Eric, but he still wanted to know if he was just jealous or if there was something else. 

    "Why would you need two boys? You 'ready got new cuddlebug" The little boy cried harder, the thought of being replaced really getting to his heart. He wiped his tears away with his fists and then he curled up into a ball and slipped his thumb into his mouth. 

   Oh, no. He had used the word "cuddlebug". It was getting pretty bad. Daryl would only use that word for two things: when he was feeling extremely little and needed Rick's full attention, and when he was extremely jealous and needed Rick to know that he was feeling threatened. By how the baby was expressing himself, Rick knew it was one of the rare occasions in which Daryl was feeling both, extremely little and also extremely jealous. 

   Rick took a deep breath before speaking, knowing it would be hard to make things better. "Baby, I was hugging Eric because he was feeling very sad---" 

  Daryl cut him off. "No! You were the' wif him a'cause you wanted t' be alone wif him t' cuddwe him" he cried and Rick's heart shattered. 

  That had been it. He didn't care if Daryl needed his time anymore, he knew he had to actually intervene before his baby became hysteric. He just laid down on the floor and started moving towards the sobbing boy. Daryl tried to push him away as soon as he saw him coming close. 

   "Go 'way!" Daryl cried. 

    Rick shook his head and continued moving until he was able to be right by his baby's side. Then, he hugged Daryl's waist and tried to cuddle him, even though the boy tried to escape Rick's strong arms. 

   "Daryl, can you just be a good boy and listen to me?" Rick asked with patience, still hugging Daryl's body. 

   "Don' matter if I'm a good boy, you 'ready stopped lovin' me." 

  Rick bit his bottom lip. "No honey, that's not true. We've already talked about this, remember? Sometimes we can give a little part of our love to other people, but that doesn't mean we won't love each other anymore" 

  Daryl did remember, but he didn't feel like listening to whatever Rick had to say. He was little and he needed all of Rick's love. If the man wanted him to be his baby, then he would have to be just his. He knew that, otherwise, maybe Rick would see that other people were better than him and that would make him leave his side forever. 

   "Y-you love Eric..." Daryl said, very sad and disappointed. 

 Rick shook his head. "No, he's just another little boy, sweetheart. I was just trying to make him feel better, that's all" 

   "B-but you liked his pi'ture" The baby felt his heart sink at the thought of Rick wanting to live alone with Eric. "Y-you wan' live 'lone wif him an' frow me 'way" he sobbed. 

  Rick's eyes filled with tears at the thought of Daryl actually believing that he would ever do that. 

   "Daryl, I promised you that I would always be with you, remember?" He asked and the boy nodded. "Then you know that I would never throw you away, baby" 

   Daryl was starting to believe Rick's words, but he needed to know one more thing before he actually thought that whatever Rick said could be true. 

   "But tha' don' mean you wanna be wif me, you jus' feel you have to" He cried. 

  Rick held Daryl even tighter to himself. "I do want to be with you, baby boy. You're my cuddlebug and I love you" 

   Daryl's eyes lit up when he heard that 'magic' word. He turned his head to look at the other man and saw how big Rick's smile was when they saw each other's eyes. Then, he thought that maybe Rick did love him. 

    "I 'ove you too, Daddy" Daryl cried, burying his face into Rick's chest. 

   "I know, but I love you even more" Rick said, kissing the boy's forehead. 

   "Nu-huh, I 'ove you more" Daryl pressed a kiss to Rick's chest. The older man rubbed his back. 

   "I don't think it's even possible that someone as little as you has such a big amount of love in there, baby" Rick smiled, making Daryl giggle a little bit. "So I love you more" 

.....

  After fifteen minutes of pure giggles and cuddles, Rick cconvinced Daryl to come out of under the bed and carried him downstairs, where the other boy had stayed. Once they got there, they saw that Eric was reading one of Daryl's cardboard books, still sitting on the couch. 

  "Okay, who wants some milk and cookies?" Rick asked and both boys raised their hands. Rick smiled and patted Daryl's padded bottom before sitting him on the couch. As soon as he did, the baby made grabby hands to be picked up again. Rick shook hia head. "Honey, Daddy has to make you a bottle and make Eric some milk, too" He explained. Daryl pouted and plopped back down onto the couch. "I'll be back soon" 

   Daryl was expecting Eric to say something about all that had just happened, but the boy just continued reading and ignored him. When he came back, Rick cradled his little boy and fed him his bottle after handing Eric his sippy cup with warm milk. Daryl and the other boy ate some cookies and then Aaron, as soon as he got back to Alexandria, took his little boy home. 

   At night, after giving his baby a bubble bath, Rick decided to take Daryl to the big bed and let him sleep there. He knew the boy would've asked sooner or later, so he just made the boy a favor by not making him ask when he knew it was difficult for him to express his needs. 

  Before Rick could close his eyes to finally fall asleep after an exhausting day, Daryl tugged on his shirt and caught his attention. 

   "What is it, buddy?" He asked. 

   "Daddy, p'omise I a'ways be your only cuddlebug" The baby stared into Rick's eyes as he spoke. The man chuckled when he heard the question. 

   "Of course you'll always be my only cuddlebug, I promise. No one's gonna take that from you, not even other boys or girls." Rick smiled at his baby. "Now sleep, because tomorrow we're gonna go take a walk to explore this place some more, okay?" The sheriff kissed the boy's forehead. "I love you, sweetheart" 

  "'Ove you too, Daddy" Daryl hugged Rick's waist and buried himself in his chest. 

 

  

  

 

  

 

 

  

 

  


End file.
